Anyone experienced Croup?

[JasminesMummy]

Hi all,
My 13 month old just been diagnosed. Anyone out there know much about it? Read a bit about it on the net but not actual experience. Any advice?
Lisa & Jasmine

Oh dear, poor you and dd. My DS had this - a cough like a sealion etc. It really did help to keep the air moist - hang wet clothes ovr radiators, if the cough gets bad, take her into a steam filled bathroom or boil pans of water in the kitchen.
Also put a couple of phone directories under the top legs of her cot so she sleeps in a more upright position - and it may help to take her out and give her a few breaths of cold air!
We did all that, and it wasn't too bad in the end.

Buy a humidifier and keep this running in the room where your baby sleeps.

my son has it again

not much you can do about it, except what Blu says. We have one of those plug in vaporisers from boots and that helps

Try doing a search on croup because I know there have been posts on this before. I have posted on them.
2 of my children have had quite severe croup. It can be quite scary, but it's not life-threatening normally, althugh we have had to make a few emergency visits to the hospital with ours. I normally run a steamy bath and have even slept in the bathroom with mine as the damp helps, but taking them outside in the cold is even better.
Children can have one incident of croup or suffer from it a lot like mine who gets it in the winter and normally when they have got colds. My ds1 has now got an inhaler and that relieves it quite a lot for us, so you might want to talk to your GP about that. Hopefully she will only have mild croup and you'll learn to manage it and not get too upset. I think main thing is to stay calm because then your child is more likely to stay calm too. Easier said than done of course as it can seem quite dramatic sometimes......

Much much easier and effective than a steamy bathroom or hanging towels over a radiator, is boiling a kettle without a lid off in their room. In just 5 minutes the room is steamier than a turkish sauna - and you can feel how wet and moist the air is when you inhale...

bought a 'vicks' steamer for my boys whent they had croup. Fills the room with steam all night, only uses water.Quite large,costs about £25

Thanks for the speedy replies! She already has an inhaler (Atrovent and Becotide) as the GP suspected she may have mild Baby Asthma, but I now suspect that this is not the first time she's had Croup. She gets the symptoms every time she gets a heavy cold (about 3 times now)and was prescribed the inhaler and steroids a few months ago for whenver it reappears. I will try the radiator thing tonight after a steamy play in the bathroom!

maybe the kettle instead!

Have they told you to take the Becotide inhaler only when symptoms appear?

I thought it only worked if you give it day-in, day-out. You might want to clarify this with your doctor.

No she has becotide for weeks and weeks at a time and I only stop whn GP says I can. She been back on it for about 8 weeks I think at the mo.

Just to add, that if your baby has been diagnosed with asthma,it may be wise to not take her out into cold air as this can cause bronchospasm and make symptoms worse.
DS had croup about a week ago, fortunately it only lasts for 48 hours or so, it is worse at night and is viral in nature so antibiotics are not useful.
I hung a wet towel over the radiator in his bedroom and employed temperature controlling methods.(calpol,neurofen and minimal clothing)
I was a walking zombie because i sat up with him for 3 nights as i was very concerned about his breathing. It always scares me when its the breathing.
Good luck and just tell your self that it wont last long.